Teenagers believe they are above the law - councillor

Anton McNulty

Young teenagers see themselves as being above the law according to a Ballina-based councillor who he says are not afraid of intimidating older people.
The issue was raised by Cllr Gerry Ginty (Independent) at last’s week’s meeting of the Joint Policing Committee in Castlebar where the future programme of work and the development of strategy was debated.
There is only one JPC to cover the entire county when previously each town council had their own JPC to deal with issues in the three main towns. Cllr Ginty said the former Ballina JPC was ‘very effective’ in dealing with anti-social behaviour and he was concerned with the current problem in the town.
“There is an amount of young people taking the law into their own hands. These are 13 and 14 year olds who see themselves as above the law. I am sorry to say this but I have personally been intimidated by 13 and 14 year olds. There is a lot of minor crime going unreported and I see this as something which is not nipped in the bud, they can become devious and dangerous later on,” he said.
Cllr Ginty later commented that a lot of young people under 16 were being cruel to stray horses around the town and were not afraid of people when tackled on the issue.
Fellow Ballina-based councillor John O’Hara commented that the under 18 age group were engaging in anti-social behaviour because there was nothing for them to do. He suggested that the Council set up a programme similar to Foróige to fill the void for those not engaging in any activity.
“You cannot get into nightclubs when you are under 18 and for the 12 to 18 year old there is nowhere to go. They all want the taste of alcohol and are encouraged to drink in laneways and elderly people are afraid of the young people shouting. There is no place for them to go.”